Unused Call Time: PTOs Rip Off Subscribers
By Malachy Agbo
Hello PTOs' subscribers... you've been ripped off! THISDAY investigations have revealed that subscribers are being fleeced to the tune of millions of naira yearly through a call timing system that bills subscribers for seconds and minutes not used.
This is how it happens: as soon as a subscriber dials a number, the call timer starts counting, even before the phone starts ringing. If it rings for 30 seconds before the phone is picked and the call lasts for one minute, the call will be charged for one minute (actual talk time) plus the 30 seconds for which the phone rang before it was picked. The subscriber is then charged two minutes, since the billing system is per minute, not per second as it obtains on the GSM networks.
It is also certain that Private Telecommunications Operators (PTO) subscribers never pay for the actual call time, since the call timer starts counting immediately it is dialled.
The call timing system is such that if the phone rings for one minute before it is picked, the subscriber will automatically be charged for two minutes even if the actual talk time is two seconds.
The PTOs have often explained this as a software problem and insisted that if the phone rings and it is eventually not picked, the subscriber will not be charged at all. This, however, does not explain what happens if the call is picked.
It is significant that Nitel and GSM do not use this call timing system. The call timer does not start counting until the calls are picked.
In the Lagos metropolis, operators of business centres often run into problems with customers who complain bitterly about the timing system.
Mr. Dave Imoko, chief spokesman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), regulators of the telecommunications industry, told THISDAY that there have been several complaints by subscribers.
"This issue came up at the last consumer parliament session with the operators, and they (operators) said that they do not bill unanswered calls. But if you know any particular subscriber who is complaining about this, ask him to come at our next session so that I will help him to be heard out," he said.
But a PTO subscriber told THISDAY that if NCC doubts it, it should bring a phone to the next session and confirm the allegation. "I say this because when the network operator says it does not bill a subscriber for the seconds preceding an answered call, and the subscriber says he is being billed, the only way to show who is lying is to bring a phone to the place and make a trial before everyone," she said.
At Multi-Links and Reltel Communications, nobody was willing to speak with THISDAY. The spokesmen were said not to be on seat.
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